CareShield Life to replace ElderShield from 2020: What you need to know (The Straits Times)

Healthy LivingThe Ministry of Health is rolling out a new disability insurance scheme, CareShield Life, to replace the existing ElderShield, for younger people.

Here are the key features.

Name: CareShield Life

When it starts: 2020

Who it affects: All Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 40 years and younger in 2020.

What they need to do: Pay annual premiums using Medisave from the ages of 30 to 67. Premiums: $206 for men and $253 for women in 2020. This will go up by 2 per cent a year for the first five years. Future increases will be announced later.

Subsidies: 20 per cent to 30 per cent for Singaporeans with per capita family income of $2,600 or less. Permanent residents receive half the subsidy.

Additional premium support for those who still cannot pay the premiums.

Transitional subsidy of up to $250 for Singaporeans in the first five years.

What it provides: Monthly payouts for people who are severely disabled.

What is severely disabled: Need help with at least three of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADL), which are eating, going to the toilet, changing clothes, bathing, transferring from bed to chair and vice versa, moving from room to room.
How to prove severe disability: You need to be assessed and certified by a doctor, nurse, physiotherapist or occupational therapist. Cost of disability assessment: The first time you are assessed will be free. But if you are found not to have three ADLs, you will have to pay for the next assessment. This will likely be higher than the current $50 when done at a clinic and $150 if the doctor has to visit the patient. However, should you be found to have three ADLs, you will be reimbursed the amount.
Amount of payouts: $600 a month for claims made in 2020. Like premiums, they will increase by 2 per cent a year for the first five years. They will continue to increase beyond that at a rate to be determined later.

The amount of payout a person is entitled to increases annually until the age of 67, or till a person makes a claim, whichever is earlier.

Duration of payouts: For as long as the person remains disabled.
What payouts can be used for: Anything.

The new scheme is based on recommendations by the ElderShield Review Committee, which the Government has accepted. Here are the recommendations: